1. Ancient China

2. Geography
Isolated by natural barriers: Himalayas, Plateau of Tibet, Taklimakan Desert, Gobi Desert, and water to the east
China was not completely protected by natural boundaries and was frequently invaded

3. Geography of China (cont.)
Rivers:
Huang He (Yellow): north
Frequent violent flooding
Deposits of silt
good for agriculture
Yangtze: south

4. Geographic Challenges
China’s Sorrow – nicknamed for destructive force during floods (10 million in 50 years)
Isolation reduced ability to trade with outsiders

5. Civilization Emerges in Shang Times
Shang rose to power in northern China
Created walled cities to protect from invaders
Mostly consisted of wooden structures
High classes lived within city walls
Peasants and lower classes lived outside the walls
Lasted from BC (remember years move the opposite way in BC/ BCE times)
First family to leave written records

7. Chinese Culture Family Hierarchy Religion Writing
main loyalty for Chinese
respect, obedience & loyalty to ruler
Hierarchy
strict social classes
Religion
spirits of ancestors helpful or not
Oracle bones
Writing
characters
written language same for all spoken dialects
Advantage: People in all parts of China could learn the written language even if their spoken language was very different
Disadvantage: Enormous number of written symbols to be memorized. (Roughly 1,500 characters to be barely literate)
Arrange marriages 13-16

8. Early Chinese Dynasties
Shang (1700 – 1027 B.C.)
overthrown by the …
Zhou
(1027 B.C. – 256 B.C.)
justified conquest by Mandate of Heaven - ruler has approval of gods
Dynastic cycle - loss of Mandate of Heaven leads to new dynasty
lost power to nobles who gained power & fought
move away from ancient values

9. Technology and Warring
Roads and canals built
Coined money introduced
Blast furnaces produced cast iron that was used to create weapons and tools
Warring States:
Zhou ruled from BC until nomads killed the royal family. Chaos replaced order as competing nobles attacked each other